John Landis returns to directing

Filmmaker attached to 'Burke,' 'Ghoulishly'

John Landis is getting back in the saddle with a clutch of feature projects in the pipeline.

First up will be “Burke and Hare,” a true-life black comedy about the two eponymous grave-robbers in 19th century Edinburgh. Landis is directing the project for Ealing Studios. Lensing is set to start next spring in Edinburgh, London and at Ealing Studios.

Project’s script is written by Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft, who previously penned for Ealing the modern-day reworking of British schoolgirl laffer “St. Trinian’s,” the second highest-grossing British indie pic of the past decade in the U.K.

The film will be produced by Ealing Studios topper Barnaby Thompson and exec produced by James Spring.

While Landis has been keeping himself busy of late by directing a number of feature-length docs, including “Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project,” which won two Primetime Emmys this year, “Burke and Hare” will mark Landis’ first feature in a decade after “Blues Brothers 2000″ in 1998.

Landis is also attached to a number of other feature projects, including “Ghoulishly Yours,” a biopic of Mad magazine and EC Comics publisher William Gaines; “The Bone Orchard,” which the helmer describes as a Western with Chinese vampires; and “The Rivals,” based on the Restoration play by James Sheridan.

Landis is finding himself back in vogue after a period in the feature film wilderness.

A special 30th anniversary DVD re-release of Landis’ seminal comedy “Animal House” just notched up first week sales of 76,000 units.